Meatless Mondays: Cauliflower Chia Baked Falafel (GF, V)

This wonderful chia seed recipe comes from Serena, The Non Dairy Queen. Serena has written many wonderful recipes for us before and you can find them here, here, here and here and they’ve all been wonderful- so we were excited, to say the least, when she wanted to help us out with a chia recipe. You can find more about Sarena on her blog, The Non Dairy Queen.I see she’s also making some great jam with chia seeds– what a clever idea!

I happen to be a lover of chia seeds, but to be honest, my kids are a little freaked out by them. Fair enough, we all relate them to our pop culture friends the chia pet. However I see them a bit differently now after completing my nutrition certification. I started really researching where we can get more healthy Omega 3 essential fatty acids outside of eating more fish or taking supplements. I prefer getting my nutrients from whole foods when possible. After researching chia seeds, I really fell in love with the fact that they are a complete protein, full of fiber and the fact that they are loaded with Omega 3 fatty acids. So, in order to convince my kids to give them a try, I decided to use them so they weren’t as obvious. Baked falafel it is! Along with healthy chia seeds, these are full of vegetables and oatmeal too! While I’m happy to say that my kids do eat a wide variety of healthy foods, I have discovered that fun finger foods definitely win my family over when it comes to sneaking in more nutrient rich foods!

Pulse the cauliflower and onion in a food processor until it’s finely chopped. Remove the cauliflower mixture from the food processor and place in a bowl. Next process the chickpeas until mostly pureed.

Leave it a little chunky. In a large bowl, mix the chia through pepper until well blended. Next add the cauliflower mixture and chickpeas to the oat mixture and stir until completely combined.